languages

Babbel has a well rated product line on multiple platforms, consisting of multiple ways to learn the basics of multiple languages at an affordable price. Already available on Windows 8, the company has just launched a number of apps for Windows Phone, further expanding the reach to consumers across multiple Microsoft platforms. So what can we expect to see in these official offerings?

Microsoft has published a new entry on its Windows Phone Blog, detailing available languages in Windows Phone 8. A popular question has been asked by consumers, "When will Windows Phone support my language?". It's a demand that Microsoft has been addressing, much like market availability and developer access to tools and Store submission.

The Amazing Weather developers are hard at work on version 3.0 of Amazing Weather that will bring themes, weather alerts, offline mode, auto location detection, and a refined user interface to the mix. But they need your help.

Amazing Weather v3's new "Metro" look

Amazing Weather needs translators for as many languages as they can find. If you care to translate weather terms into the various languages you know, just shoot Eizsoft an email at amazingweather@eizsoft.com with TRANSLATION as the subject line. In return for your help, you'll get a thanks in the About Screen of Amazing Weather and a free Beta copy.

If you're not familiar with Amazing Weather, there is a free trial version available and the full version is running $1.29. You can find it here at the Windows Phone Marketplace.

AppFlow, a popular third-party Marketplace browser, has been updated to support all 36 international markets, which enables users to find apps in foreign Marketplaces regardless of the region you're located in. Lists within the app were specific to the U.S. market alone, so this is a welcomed update for us non-U.S. residents. The Marketplace that the app will use as preference can be altered in the "Info" tab, allowing on-the-fly switching.

As well as the above, lists in the app (that aren't themed - eg. "Best Mango Apps") will now be relevant for that particular region, and the ratings/reviews will reflect what is provided on that given Marketplace. App descriptions are also displayed in the region's language.

You can download AppFlow from the Marketplace for free. For more information surrounding the update, check out the press release found at the source linked below.

Ever wonder how companies come up with the names of their products? With a name like "Lumia" there is generally a meaning behind it to try and build good rapport with potential consumers. As it turns out, Nokia went through a nice long process in finding the name of their first Windows Phone 7 device. When you're a worldwide leader in mobile devices, you can't just pick a word that sounds good in your own language - you need something that will stick with the people no matter where they are from.

There are certain criteria that a name must first fit in order to make it through early stages of the name-selection phase. What started off as a list of over 200 possible names for the new Nokia phone, the company efficiently whittled the list down to one, but not before comparing each name to over 300,000 other tech brands and consulting with 84 different language experts.

The name Lumia had some of its own difficulties to triumph over. While in many Spanish-speaking countries the people think of it as meaning "light", there are some old-timers who might remember that the word was once a slang-term for "prostitute". After taking surveys and doing research, Nokia found that roughly 60% of Spanish-speakers thought the name "Lumia" was a positive one for a piece of mobile technology, thus easing worries that there could be a negative vibe towards the brand over time.

In other countries Lumia has a different meaning; in Finland it means "snow", which is handy since the device is being released this winter. All fine words for a brand that Nokia wants people to talk about. Of course, the ultimate catch is in the way the word sounds - Lumia is distinctly similar to the name "Nokia", and repition is always a great thing to have when you want a brand name to stick. Nokia is not new to researching a name before putting it on shelves - "Asha", a brand for devices sold in emerging markets, means "hope" in Hindi (a language of India).

So there you have it. Whether Lumia means "snow", "light", "hope" or maybe something else in another language, Nokia has definitely done their homework before picking this name. Let's just hope they've done homework in other areas, too, and that this brand new device is the success that Nokia and WP7 need to get some attention in this very competitive mobile world.

Mango not only promises to bring 500 new features for regular users but also numerous other languages for the rest of the planet. For those who want some Japanese on their Windows Phone now, or perhaps those looking to explore how to add other language, a neat little hack has appeared over at NanaPho.

The trick requires a registry edit before you upgrade to Mango (you can't yet edit the registry on Mango devices, as far as we know) and may be good for those playing with DFT's custom ROMs. While in NoDo or earlier, simply launch the registry editor and make these changes:

1. add this entry on your NoDo (7390 or 7392) phone.

key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\MUI\Available

name: 0411

value: Japanese

2. update to Mango Beta 2 Refresh

3. you will get Japanese language

Of course the potential is there to add other languages, though it has to be verified. Other language packs which are made available with the Mango release include 0413 (Netherlands), 0419 (Russian), 0804 (Simplified Chinese), 0404 (Traditional Chinese) and in theory, those should work too. Looks to be a cool trick for those not wanting to wait the extra month or two for the RTM Mango to hit.

Amist all the incredible announcements made at MIX'11 yesterday, one that caught everyone's eye through continuous demand and request was the amount of new countries where developers can register in the Marketplace. The above image shows all the current countries in green, with the added 8 in yellow, which include:

Carmelo Milian, developer of the Windows Phone 7 application SoundEscape 7, is bringing an interesting Twitter app to the Marketplace. Tweet Translator promises to translate your tweets from or to a wide range of languages.

Other features of Tweet Translator include:

View your personal tweet time-line

Search people tweets

View public tweets

Hear the tweet with text to speech for various languages

Real-time translation for more than thirty languages

Languages covered in Tweet Translator range from Arabic to Haitian Creole to Vietnamese, as well as the customary French, Italian, Spanish, German and English. It will be interesting to see how well the text to speech feature of Tweet Translator will shake out.

According to the developer Tweet Translator has been submitted for certification and should be available at the Marketplace soon for $.99.

As you can tell from the screen shot, the title of each version is long enough to cut off which version is which. It may take a little effort to find the language you are looking for but, hey, it's a free app!